a fresh take on expat living ... mindset shift matters

LynneM
Jun 23
2 min read

Updated: Jul 3

How to stop the scroll and take AIM

(Attention, Intention, Make A Plan)

You’ve seen a million posts about expat living on Insta, YouTube videos, read the Substacks, blogs, vlogs looking for wisdom and a way forward for your expatriate life. You probably found a few helpful recommendations, a couple of useful tips, maybe had an ‘ah ha’ moment or two … but ultimately you’re still wrestling with the challenge of expat living on your own.

Why?

Because the real hard stuff of moving to another country isn’t to do with getting the right visa, finding a great apartment or making a living, even though all of these things really matter.

The biggest shift has to do with mindset.

Someone said to me recently that the women who have the most successful expat experience are the ones who ‘allow the place to change them’ .

So much wisdom right there - for me, when I stopped making Australia my reference point for everything and made myself open to what was right in front of and around me I started to accept, without judgment, not knowing about a lot of things about my new life. I started to think about my expat story and what I wanted it to be.

I started to:

Pay attention to what was around me - to be present to the sights, sounds and energy of Madrid.
Be intentional about what I wanted so that I could make the most of the experience - for me this was being disciplined about strength training and learning Spanish so that I could see as much as possible of my new home and enjoy connections (even brief one’s) in Spanish.
Make a plan with practical steps and concrete outcomes for the year ahead.

So I’m not saying that this takes away the frustrations but it does put them in perspective.

How will you let your new home change you?

How will you: